The LVTC blog, by Henry Law

The comments in the LVTC Blog are a personal view of our Hon. Secretary Henry Law and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Campaign.

This is a place for personal observations and comments on politics, economics, current affairs, on-going discussions on the potential for LVT to remedy some of the current ills, and the impact on Society of any of the above.

Please read and enjoy, and feel free to respond to Henry if you have any thing you would like to add.

The death of the Duke of Westminster has drawn attention to the fact that the estate is not liable for inheritance tax as it is vested in a trust. This has led to indignant comments and charges of tax avoidance.

The Grosvenor Estate is one of several owned by aristocratic families, which together encompass a large area of Central London. The pattern of land ownership in Central London has hardly changed since 1700.

Their managers of these estates have done a good job in preserving the attractive character of at least part of the capital, protecting it from rapacious developers and local authorities who between them have ruined the London skyline.

However, it is important to remember that this land would be almost worthless if it were not for the infrastructure paid for and maintained day and night at the expense of the taxpayer, without which London could not function. In principle, it does not matter who owns land as long as those owners pay their contribution towards the cost of the services which sustain their rental income stream - ie a land value tax close to the full market rental value. From this perspective, breaking up these estates would in itself solve nothing. The land value tax is in principle just a service charge.

In practice, land ownership brings political influence. Wise owners would use that influence to secure legislation which was for the greater good. If they do not, sooner or later there will be a price to be paid.

"The EU's tariff wall is what is protecting us. Countries like the US can decimate the British wheat farmers. Japan can decimate the UK car industries (by switching the production back to Japan from the UK) and the US can do the same. New Zealand can destroy the British sheep and dairy farmers. You wouldn't remove your firewall from your computer. Why should the UK remove our EU's tariff wall?"

"Macroeconomics is in a state of great confusion. The profession is deeply divided. Far from there being a body of knowledge which is generally accepted, almost every position is extremely contentious. Public discussion of economics has no coherent rationale, and governments, notwithstanding their emphatic rhetoric, cannot give a credible explanation of how it is that their policies fail to achieve the results they seek."

Wynne Godley, Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge, writing in the Financial Times in 1983.

These factors were obviously not uppermost in the minds of most of those who voted "leave", but before the referendum we pointed out that EU has in practice applied policies which are entirely against the principles we are promoting.

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